Friday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

Richard DeVito, Jr., 40, of Lake Worth, decided to take his family's decades-old traditional tool sharpening business down a new path – on the road. Having a movable business creates a flexible mind set in more ways than one, says DeVito. It also provides a fast-track start for people who want to go into business without the commitment of a lease and overhead expenses of office space. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

IN CASE YOU MISSED ITHealth Care Trends

Proton therapy centers are proliferating in Florida, highlighting both the medical industry's push to create new technologies -- and their role in driving health care costs.

Kennedy Space Center crews this morning rolled Endeavour from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the shuttle runway, where it will be lifted and set atop a 747 carrier aircraft today. The move, which began around 5 a.m., was the last step before Endeavour's planned takeoff Monday morning atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to start the shuttle program's final ferry flight. [Source: Florida Today]

Jacksonville-Based ParkerVision to sell more than 4 million shares of stock

Jacksonville-based technology firm ParkerVision announced Friday that the company has signed a securities purchase agreement to sell 4.38 million shares of its commons stock. According to a news release issued Friday by ParkerVision, the common stock for the company will sell for $2.30 for investors. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

Florida can seem like a child's dream of paradise: endless sunny days, trips to the beach to swim and build sandcastles, bike riding without a jacket in the middle of January, and magical themeparks only a short drive away. But what was life really like for those who grew up here? Read all about it in a new book featuring contributions from Carl Hiaasen, Tom Petty, Zora Neale Hurston, Michael Connelly, and many more.